Is Cyber Monday a thing of the past?

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Cyber Monday is expected to set a record for online shoppers.

Last year, 85 million shoppers logged on to their computers to make purchases and this year 96.5 million are expected to log on.

The phrase Cyber Monday is thought to have been coined four or five years ago.

Back in 2005, only 33% of Americans had high speed Internet so after a long Thanksgiving weekend they waited to do their shopping online when they got to work where high speed was guaranteed.

But as of March of this year 63% of Americans have high speed at home. So is Cyber Monday a thing of the past?

According to Matthew Cheng of ecoupons.com, not really "One of the secrets of online shopping is that it peaks during weekdays. The very peak of it is typically between noon and 1 p.m. so it seems to me that they're trying to keep it to the lunch hour."

So while some are keeping their shopping to break time, others are still taking work hours to look at the savings available online that almost every retailer is offering. That shopping could be done any day of the week, the blitz of price cuts and free shipping will most likely keep this new tradition going.

And while retailers may get more desperate closer to the holiday, shoppers take a gamble that the cuts will get deeper. Cheng said it may not be worth the risk.

According to Cheng, "This year I don't think that their inventory levels are so high. So I think the danger of waiting too long is that the item that you want might be out of stock."

I also found a study from the National Federation of Retailers that says because of broadband access the vast majority of shoppers will make online purchases from home instead of at work. They said it could be as high as 91%.

Now 24-Hour News 8 did a survey as well?

According to our unscientific poll on WISHTV.com; 24% voted that sales drove their Cyber Monday shopping, 4% said it is high speed Internet at work, 15% said they have already done their online shopping, but the largest percentage 55% said they don't use the Internet for shopping at all.